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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/27234781">À Terre (earthbound.)</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/avatarellie/pseuds/avatarellie'>avatarellie</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Avatar: Legend of Korra</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Gen</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-11-03</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-11-03</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-06 22:03:36</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Not Rated</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>2,283</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/27234781</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/avatarellie/pseuds/avatarellie</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>She twirled until it seemed the breath had left her lungs, colliding with the ground a moment after. Her back faced the door and her head hung low.</p><p>"Am I a monster?" she asked, making her awareness of the secondary presence known. Her body quivered lightly but it was her heart that ached that day.</p><p>"Of course not. They just need time," the soft response finally cleared through the air.</p><p>////////</p><p>AU in which the Great Uniter was defeated in Zaofu, and relinquished her empire soon after.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>8</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>8</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>À Terre (earthbound.)</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The former Great Uniter buried her head in her hands. After her defeat in Zaofu, she'd had a serious meeting with Avatar Korra about the future of the Earth Kingdom and come to an agreement to step down from her position in favor of a democratic movement. It took a lot of convincing at first- she was fiercely stubborn- but eventually she yielded. She was promised to be involved in the continued progression of the nation into a modern era. With this denouncement of her empire, she was making her rounds to every city she had conquered, announcing new plans for their nation and shutting down what was built. This only horrified her with every shutdown, as she was made more and more aware of why she was hated so much. Each work force and camp was a new horror of citizen treatment that she was never aware of after she left. </p><p>Now in the final stretch of her travels to fix the mistakes made, she sat at the desk in her train, filling out more paperwork. Shutting down her empire almost seemed to take more work than it did to build it. Another signature, another seal, another paper slammed into the stack. She had been at this for the last couple of weeks, the Avatar by her side for most of it. She wasn't even sure why Korra was so easy with her forgiveness when nobody else was. It was like second nature to her, where Kuvira struggled with forgiving even herself. She was thankful for it, though. Never in her life had a friendship been so easy, so fluid, as if the two interlocked like yin and yang. Korra was gentle in coaxing the hardened woman out of her shell, finding her true personality, what embarrassed her, what made her laugh.</p><p>When Korra was gone though, and Kuvira had nothing but herself and the four walls around her, she was broken. She was angry, mostly at herself. She only ever wanted to unite her nation and show it the same love, respect and attention her parents never gave her, and she failed. She divided families, she broke spirits, she failed. Now the once fearless leader was sitting silently at her desk with tear drops scattering the surface of it.</p><p>Soft tears quickly turned into violent wails that racked her entire body, shuddering as she struggled to suck in air. She felt like she was suffocating, her mind constantly rattled with the reminder that her nation hated her, and would continue to hate her for a long time, no matter how hard she tried to do right by them. Her throat burned and she wanted to scream, but she was only greeted with another choked sob. </p><p>Kuvira abruptly shoved herself backwards, removing herself from her chair and instead quickly placing herself in front of one of her large drawers. Through blurred eyes she tore through the contents of it, frantically searching for the only thing she thought made her feel sane. Her rapid breaths stopped suddenly as her hand gently brushed a small record player. Gloved fingers softly traced the closed box and found their way to the stack of vinyl records that stood to the side of it. She thumbed through them until she found her favorite one, the one that had played behind her on her final recital before she'd abandoned Zaofu.</p><p>The bender took the record player into one arm and cleared a spot on the desk with the other, setting it down cautiously. She went back to retrieve the vinyl, stopping her hand just short of it when a green fabric caught her eye. Kuvira gasped softly and grabbed hold of it, pulling out a silky green recital dress. Thousands of memories flooded back as she recalled everything that lead to the last time she had worn that dress. She'd forgotten she even kept it. She clutched the fabric and brought it to her nose- it smelled so faintly of home. A pair of ballet pointe shoes remained in the drawer and she grabbed them along with her record.</p><p>Looking up to peer through the window ahead, Kuvira made sure that not a single soul was coming her way before she began to rid herself of her clean cut uniform. She sniffled, kicking her boots off first and tossing them to the side. Her metal armor quickly followed the boots, then the gloves, and she clawed at her top, pulling it over her head as if she were tearing off a second piece of herself. Within moments, she stood mostly bare, loosely hanging on to the dress. She shuddered as the cool air caressed her skin. </p><p>The woman hesitantly slipped the dress on and ran the palms of her hands down the silk. Another tear fell and a hand reached to wipe at the trail it left. She swayed from side to side, watching the loose ends flow freely before she knelt to put on the shoes. As she pulled the shoes onto her feet, for the first time in years she wasn't a powerful figure, she wasn't a monster. She was just the simple girl from Zaofu. She stood slowly, pawing at the tear stains on her cheeks. Removing the record from its case, she opened its player and set it carefully on the spindle. She powered it on and moved the tone arm over the vinyl, smiling softly as string music started to fill the room.</p><p>Kuvira moved elegantly, recreating the steps and turns of the dance she knew so well. She guided herself across the floor, eyes half closed, moving her body freely and effortlessly. She leaped forward and flipped herself over, sliding into a split the moment her feet touched the ground. As fluidly as she moved though, she was troubled, and her emotions began to break through her shell once more and drive her dance into something more raw. Her face warped and she started to put more power through her movements and less poise. </p><p>Her body twisted and curled as if she was releasing her own spirit into the air, becoming less of her cherished recital dance and more of her own comfort. She shifted her weight and started to turn, lifting herself onto the toe of one foot while the other rested on the back of her thigh. Her right hand reached up for the ceiling and her left parallel to the ground. The door of her train car opened, but either she was too lost in herself or the music was too loud for her to make notice of it.</p><p>She twirled until it seemed the breath had left her lungs, colliding with the ground a moment after. Her back faced the door and her head hung low.</p><p>"Am I a monster?" she asked, making her awareness of the secondary presence known. Her body quivered lightly but it was her heart that ached that day.</p><p>"Of course not. They just need time," the soft response finally cleared through the air. The ever adored Avatar approached the downed dancer, kneeling to rest a careful hand on the small of her back. "It takes time to fix things."</p><p>Kuvira shook her head doubtfully. "You don't understand, Korra. I ruined my nation. They hate me, and they should." Her voice broke during her last sentence, prompting Korra to pull her into a warm embrace.</p><p>"You didn't ruin it. You had good intentions for the nation and you did a lot of good things. You just got really flawed." Kuvira's lip trembled as she sucked in a sharp breath, trying to keep herself from crying again. Korra rubbed Kuvira's back in small circles, rocking slightly.</p><p>
  <span> Kuvira let Korra and Korra alone see her vulnerable like this. Her breathing slowed and she pulled away from the Avatar’s arms, wiping at her nose.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Korra stood, extending a hand to the mess of a woman on the floor. Kuvira reached for the open hand and stood herself up, avoiding eye contact. She tried to make herself feel grounded but Korra was there, delicately patting at her tear stained cheeks and cherry red nose with a tissue she’d grabbed from the desk. It was moments like this that she was most thankful for the Avatar’s friendship. Korra smiled that easy smile of hers and that was all the grounding that Kuvira needed to feel right again.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You should wear things like that more often,” she said, gesturing to the silk dress the other woman wore. Kuvira looked down at it, her cheeks turning a soft pink.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Why?” she questioned, glancing back up at Korra. Korra chuckled and gave Kuvira a slight push of her shoulder.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Because you look beautiful, bonehead. It makes you look softer.” Kuvira’s face flushed even more as she beamed at the woman standing in front of her. “I’d say you could even wear it to this city’s announcement today. Maybe they should see a softer side of you.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I couldn’t. They’d never take me seriously,” Kuvira fumbled over her words. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I’m pretty sure if people could take Wu seriously at his coronation, they’d certainly take you seriously, dress or not,” Korra reasoned. The thought struck Kuvira and she opened the blinds to her windows to try to catch her reflection. Korra reached for Kuvira’s tightly kept bun and pulled at it gingerly, letting it loosen lightly. She pulled two small sections of hair from either side of her face and pulled them free, satisfied with the way they framed Kuvira’s face.</span>
</p><p>Kuvira gazed at her reflection again, her normally sharp face appearing softer, her typically intimidating stance more exposed and inviting. She seemed apprehensive, she wasn’t so used to appearing so delicate.</p><p>“Are you sure?” Kuvira finally asked, pulling her gaze away from the reflection to peer at Korra.</p><p>“Positive.” The older metalbender took one of the loose strands of her hair and twirled it around her finger, letting it bounce back its place. She gave a small nod, once again yielding to the Avatar.</p><p>“Okay.” The door opened and Bolin stepped through.</p><p>“We’re here,” he announced. His eyes fluttered to Kuvira. “You look… different.”</p><p>Green eyes locked on another set of green eyes and Kuvira stood unsure of how to answer. “Uh, thank you? I think.”</p><p>“No, no, it’s- it’s a good different! You look nice. But anyways, we’re here and we’re on a time crunch so we’ve gotta move.” And with that, he turned around and left in a flurry.</p><p>Korra placed a hand on Kuvira’s shoulder and gave it a slight squeeze. “Ready?” </p><p>Kuvira nodded and took in a deep breath, taking a step forward to exit the train. Korra followed her closely, her hand never leaving her shoulder. Soon they were making their way to the makeshift stage that was set and Kuvira could feel her stomach start to unsettle. She could feel the hot glares from the crowd that gathered, hear the conversations that were no doubt expressing their distaste for her presence. She exhaled sharply, refusing to let herself break in front of these people.</p><p>
  <em>“Is she wearing a dress?”</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“Why is she here?”</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“She doesn’t belong here.”</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“Why does she look like that?”</em>
</p><p>The woman took her place behind the podium, surveying the crowd before her. Unlike the other times she had been giving speeches to a crowd, she felt small. She still presented herself boldly, clearing her throat before speaking. </p><p>“Attention, all citizens. I know you would all rather my presence be elsewhere, but I am not here to cause any more turmoil,” she began. The crowd scrutinized her as she continued. “I am here to announce to you personally, I am stepping down from the position I forced myself into. There will be no more ‘Great Uniter’, no more Earth Empire. You all deserve better than the chaos I have caused.</p><p>“We are entering a new era of progression. The Earth kingdom will not be ruled by a monarchy, or by dictatorship, but instead will be led in democracy by its people. You will now have the opportunity to choose your own leaders and be involved in your own political affairs. I will be shutting down the camps that were made and stopping involuntary workforce labor effectively immediately. I see now the error of my ways, and for that I am truly sorry. I never wanted us to end up like this, I believe in the freedom and equality of my people. Avatar Korra and the world leaders are strategizing your transition into the new age. We ask for your patience and cooperation in their leadership. Thank you, for your time, for your respect, and for your loyalty to your nation. I promise, I will make this right.”</p><p>Upon her final words, she gave a small nod and fled the stage. She was not booed, nor humiliated like she had been in cities prior. This time, she was cheered for. She was sure it was for the freedom the people were getting, but she felt good regardless. Korra was waiting at the side of the stage with open arms, the rest of her friends standing nearby. Kuvira rushed into them gratefully and wrapped her own around Korra.</p><p>“You did great,” Korra whispered. </p><p>“Group hug!” Bolin shouted, quickly smothering the two in a hug. Korra and Kuvira laughed as Mako and Asami followed Bolin and wrapped their arms around the group. </p><p>Kuvira smiled warmly, feeling more surrounded by love than she had ever been in her life. She knew it would take time to fix her mistakes, but she was thankful that her new friendships would help keep her grounded to the earth while she did.</p>
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